Machine for attaching buttons



(No Model.)

G. H. ALTON.

MACHINE FOR ATTAGHING BUTTONS.

Patented Aug. '28, 1883.

P 25555. W WM %W%,W

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFER. 1.

GEORGE H. ALTON, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE BELLE PATENT BUTTON FASTENER COMPANY, OF KENNEBUNK, MAINE.

MACHINE FOR ATTACHING BUTTONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 284,111, dated August 28, 1883.

Application filed June 27, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. ALTON, of Lynn, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Button-Attaching Apparatus, of which the following de scription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a'specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object improve- IO ments in that class of apparatus for attaching buttons, wherein the point of the tack or fastening is first thrust through the stock or ma terial, and has the shank of the button placed thereon, after which the point of the tack or fastening is clinched about the shank of the button.

In this my present invention the anvil or clinching-surface and the face of the supporting-surface for the stock are made concentric,

or so that one is adapted to slide longitudinally or rise and fall with relation to the other.

In the embodiment of my invention, as herein shown,the supportii-ig-surface against which the stock rests when the tack is being forced 2 5 through the material is provided with a longitudinal central opening, in which is placed a spring-supported anvil located at one end of an anvil-carrier, the anvil normally resting next the supporting-surface for the stock, and

0 co-operating with the said anvil is a device which at certain times is moved to lock the anvil in position and to restrain it from movement with relation to the supportingsurface. As the point of the tack or fastening being in- 5 serted through the stock to which the button is to be fastened emerges from the stock it strikes the anvil at the end of the anvil-carrier, and the stop or locking device for the latter being then inoperative, the anvil and its 0 carrier are pushed back by the tack against a' spring. The tack having been forced through the stock, the jaws of the instrument are separated, leaving the tack held by the tack-holding device with the stock upon it. Then the 4 5 button to be fastened is applied to the shank of the tack, the anvil-carrier is locked in position, and the jaws are again closed but this time the anvil cannot yield under the action of the point of the tack, and consequently the said point is clinched or curled over about the .50 shank of the button.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of part of an implement or apparatus for setting buttons in accordance with my invention, Fig. 2, a side elevation of a part of the said apparatus 5 5 in a different position, and partially broken. out to illustrate the operation of the parts when inserting the tack Fig. 3, a partial side elevation of'the same just before clinching the tack; Fig. 4, adetail showing how the button may be held provided it is desired to insert the tack and clinch it by one movement. Fig.

5 is a modification to be described, and Fig. 6 a view .of Fig. 5 below the dotted line a: x.

The jaws or members (4 I) on arms a b, pivoted at c, and provided with a spring, d, to nor mally separate the short ends of the jaws, as in Fig. 1, are all as usual. The tack c has'it-s head 6 inserted in a seat or socket in the me1nher a, and is acted upon by a forked spring or holder, f, attached by screwf. Upon member b is secured a support or die, 9, having a longitudinal central passage, in which is located an anvil, h, the latter being free to be moved in the said passage in one direction by the action upon it of the front of the tack or fastening, and in the opposite direction by a suitable spring, h, whenever the said anvil and its carrier l1? are not secured against such movement by a locking device, at, which, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, is aturn-button having a thumb-nut, m.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the anvil-carrier is shown as a lever pivoted at m and adapted to rise and fallin a slot in the support 9, a spring, h, 8 5 acting upon the rear end of the said carrier, normally keeping its cone. ved end elevated, as shown in Fig. 5.

In Fig. 5 the locking device for the anvil is shown as a catch pivoted at 2, and acted upon 0 by a lever, n, pivoted at a, one end of which is act-ed upon by a spring, a the forward end of the lever a, when pressed against the locking device an, retaining the same in contact with the shoulder 4 of the anvil-carrier; but 5 as soon as the operator depresses the short end of the lever a the small spring 0, Fig. 6, acts to move the catch aside from engagement with support g, and the members a b will be closed.

The point of the tack will enter the material 1),

and, emerging therefrom, will meet the anvil IL,-

and the same, being held only by the spring h, willyield to the pressure of the point of the tack, and the tack will be fully driven through the material, as in Fig. 2, when the members a, b will be separated, and the button 9" will be placed or hung upon the shank of the tack, as in Fig. 3, and the locking device m will be turned to the position Figs. 3 or 5, and the members a b will again be closed. But at this time the anvil-carrier is locked, and the point of the tack, meeting the anvil held rigidly, will be curled over or clinched about the shank of the button-fastening, securing the same upon the material pa boot or shoe or other articleand after this the head of the tack will be drawn from under its holder f.

If it is desired to hold a button with its shank upon it next the anvil, the buttonh older 8 may be turned into the position Fig. 4.

I do not desire to limitthis invention to the exact form of locking device shown, whereby the anvil is at times held rigidly opposed to the point of the tack, and at other times is free to yield in the direction of the movement of the tack when being driven through the stock.

I do not herein broadly claim a support with a hole for the entrance of the tack-point at one operation of the jaws, nor an anvil upon which.

, to clinch the tack at the next operation of the jaws, andI desire it to be understood that I may dispense with more or less of the face of the supporting-surface and support the material for a greater or less extent near the spot where the point of the tack is to penetrate it.

I claim 1. The member a and its attached tack or fastener holder, combined with the member b, provided with a support for the material, an anvil adapted to rise and fall with relation to the face of the said support, and with a locking device to hold the anvil firmly in position near the face of the said support when a tack or fastening is to be clinched, the anvilbeing permitted to move back within or below the face of the said support to insure the passing of the tack or fastening through the material, substantially as described.

2. The member I), the hollow support 9 thereon, the anvil located within the said support, and a spring to act upon and hold the said anvil in ayielding manner, as described, when the tack or fastening is being forced through the material, combined with a locking device to prevent the said anvil. from moving backward within the said support when the point of the tack -is being clinched, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE H. ALTON.

\Vitnesses:

WILLIAM F. NOONAN, \VILLIAM A. BOLAND. 

